E3 2005: Hands On With Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks

Here's a nice, five-step process in which to totally destroy a franchise, and then revive it again:

Create an amazing, controversial title that generates tons of sales.

Develop sequels which become progressively worse with each iteration.

Develop a stupid ass side story game that has nothing to do with the main series.

Resurrect the series with an entirely new team.

Start releasing good games again.

Of course, this is what totally happened with Mortal Kombat. If you thought I was talking about another game, why would I put it here? So Midway is kind of at a crossroads now. They've successfully revived the Mortal Kombat series, but with the announcement of Shaolin Monks, outsiders might think that they're repeating history, right?

Well, not exactly. It seems that Midway has learned the error of their ways, and that's clearly evident in some of their other, non-fighting game titles, such as The Suffering and Psi-Ops. Now, a yearly update of Mortal Kombat might seem like a bad idea, but not when the next installment isn't a fighting game. Borrowing elements from Devil May Cry, Shaolin Monks has the daunting task of proving it's worthy of the moniker it bears.

The demo that we got to play at E3 was exactly the same as we had last week, so there aren't any surprises just yet. The demo starts off with Liu Kang and Kung Lao in Goro's lair, fighting off swarms of evil monsters that probably just need a hug from mom. Unlike the absolutely despicable Mortal Kombat Mythologies, the combat engine in Shaolin Monks is surprisingly solid and fun to use. You have a couple of buttons to attack, a jump button, and a special move button when used in conjunction with your attacks, allow you to pull off special attacks. For example, hold down the R trigger and press the A button, and you'll be able to pull off fireballs with Liu Kang.

Comboing attacks is pretty easy in the game too. Finish off combos with the B button and you can launch opponents in the air. From there, you can leap into the air to join them for a little dance, or you can time your attacks so that they fall right into it. The multi-directional attack system is fairly solid, but it does have some problems due to the lack of tracking involved. Although early in development, it would've been nice to see some attacks track so that you don't whiff completely.

And what would Mortal Kombat be without fatalities? Finishing moves in an action game seems a little strange, but it works wonderfully here. By pressing a button to setup the fatality, you can enter in a series of directional button presses and a final attack button to deliver the coup de grace. Kung Lao uses his hat to deliver his killing blow, while Liu Kang's is actually very inventive; he knocks off a dude's head and then actually kicks it back to him, with a Hollywood-style explosion following shortly after.

The final battle in the demo was Liu Kang against an old Mortal Kombat veteran, Baraka. The actual fight was stupid easy, but it did give us an indication of how unique the boss battles will probably be, and how the game tests your skills in various areas. The boss fight is split up into three parts; the first part is a simple one on one battle against Baraka. The second portion throws in a couple of flaming monks (yeah, you read that right) that deter you from facing Baraka head-on. The first part tests your fireball skills, as you and Baraka have a good ol' shoot-out. Overall, the demo left me feeling much better about the game, compared to when I first saw screenshots of the title back last year. The gameplay is solid, and although the visuals aren't amazingly cool like Devil May Cry, that's perfectly fine by me.

Things that probably need some fine-tuning? The jumping attacks, most definitely, since they're useless at this point. There's also some weird animation bugs where you'll magically appear behind an enemy to start a throw animation, no matter where you are on the screen. Of course the game is still early in development, so stuff like this will probably be addressed come the final version.

Set to debut later this year, Shaolin Monks is step in the right direction for Midway. It represents the nurturing of an old franchise to keep it fresh and innovative, and it also represents the subtle changes Midway has made to their management; no longer will they simply slap a label on a game to make some quick cash. This type of progress bodes well for Midway, as they head into the next generation with a stash of viable franchises at their call.